Safety hat suspension harness



May 2, 1961 A. .1. RUGGIERO SAFETY HAT SUSPENSION HARmss Filed Oct. 11.1957 INVENTOR.

ALFRED J. HUGG/EFPO his ATTORNEY Un d Stews PM Californ a Filed ojct;11, 1957, ser. No. 689,697 r 3 Claims. 01. a-s) Myinvention relatesltosafety hats; and the principal object of the invention is to provide asuspension harness including an absorbent liner forming part of the headband and providing immediate contact between the head band and thewearer.

Another object is the provision of a suspension harness embodying anabsorbent liner which can be readily rinsed out in water when saturatedwith perspiration, and replaced immediately in the hat.

Another object is the provision of a suspension harness embodying anabsorbent liner which provides not only a highly absorbent medium, butalso a particularly soft and comfortable contact with the head of thewearer.

Other objects will be brought out in the following description of theinvention. I do not limit myself to the showing made by said descriptionand the drawings, since I may use variant forms of the invention withinthe scope of the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my safety hat and suspension harness,portions being broken away the better to disclose the structure.

Fig. 2 is an elevation and vertical sectional view through one side ofthe suspension harness, showing the wedge and crown strap in elevationand the head band in section.

Fig. 3 is a fragment in elevation, showing the lower end of a crownstrap secured to a wedge and the mounting strip of the head band. Thedirection of the view is horizontally toward the center of thesuspension harness.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the fastener button which secures theends of the head band together.

Figs. 1, 3 and 4 are drawn to about one-half size. Fig. 2 is aboutactual size.

The embodiment of my invention herein described is achieved by a safetyhat body in combination with a suspension harness including supportingor crown straps and a head band including a sweat pad. When my safetyhat is made of molded non-conductive plastic, interlocking wedge andsocket parts of similar non-conductive material are arranged between thehead band and the lower portion of the hat crown. The socket part isdisposed preferably on the crown and is molded integrally therewith,having flat inner surfaces extending only slightly 2,981,955 PatentedMay engaged from its socket, but even the light weight of the hat bodyseats and locks the parts securely together. Any blow on the hat resultsin movement of the wedge block in its complementary socket, tending totighten the connection and impose a progressively severe braking actionon, or resistance to the force of the blow which must be absorbed. Sincemy hat must be worn many times when the surrounding temperature issuificiently high to induce perspiration, 'I have provided in the headband of the hat a heavy absorbent pad forming the inner layer of thehead band and therefore in immediate and direct contact with theforehead in a zone running around the head just above the ears. In thisposition the pad inter cepts and holds drops of perspiration which wouldotherwise tend to run down face and neck. j

My safety hat comprises a hat body of which the main portion is thecrown 2. Preferably the hat is molded of one of the nylons which has thedesired qualities of dielectric strength, resilience and fiexure.Integrally formed-with the crown wall along its lower margin, are aplurality of pairs of flat non-conductive lugs 3 extending into thecavity. of the crown a small amount, which only about doubles thethickness of the wall at that point. The' reason for the low, flatquality of the lugs is to preserve a substantially even sweep around theinner surface of the crown, so that in the event accidental means drivesthe hat laterally against the head of the wearer, there are noprojections to add penetration wounds to the blow.

The lugs 3 are disposed at the inside lower edge of the crown and extendupwardly in it, with their adjacent edges 4 undercut and divergingdownwardly to provide a shallow dovetail socket 6 in which anon-conductive wedge block 7 of complementary shape interlocks;

The wedge block also molded of nylon, has an integral cross bar 8 at itsupper or smaller end, which lies within the bifurcated loop 9, formed atthe lower end of the crown strap 12.

Preferably the crown straps have loops 9 at each end, their centralportions being gathered together in the tie cord 13 to adjust theposition of the hat vertically on the head. Each loop 9 of the crownstraps also encloses ice ' a relatively narrow section or strip 14,separated from the within the sweep of the inner surface of the crown atits juncture with the brim. Other means of detachably securing thesuspension harness to the hat body may be used.

The head band which lies just within the crown preferably comprises twothicknesses of material, the inner one a sweat pad in direct engagementwith the head of the wearer, and the outer one constituting a mountingband or backing on which the sweat pad is secured and to which the endsof the supporting crown straps are made fast.

Secured in the end of each supporting or crown strap is a wedge blockseated in its complementary companion socket. The wedge block is readilyengaged in and dismounting band 15 along its upper margin by thelongitudinal slits 16.

The mounting band is formed of relatively thin and stiff water resistantmaterial such as a resinous coated and/or impregnated fabric so as toprovide a sufiiciently substantial backing strip or band for the softand flexible sweat pad 17.

The sweat pad is formed of strip material about Va" thick and 2" wide;and is secured by a line of stitching 18 to the mounting band along itslower outer edge, and then turned over the edge and upwardly'to lieagainst the inside face of the mounting band as shown.

Extending across the middle portion of each end of the head band is aseries of spaced parallel slots 19 so that the ends may be lappedtogether with slots in register for each head size. These slots extendthrough both mounting band and sweat pad, and when the opposite ends ofthe head band are adjusted with the desired slots in alignment, they maybe fixed by the insertion of a button having a small head 21 to seat onthe outer face of V the mounting band, and a large fiat head 22, exposedon one dries. Wet or dry, the pad is pleasantly soft and yieldingagainst the skin.

I claim:

1. In a safety hat suspension harness, a non-absorbent mounting bandsurrounding the head of the wearer, a plurality of crown straps tooverlie the head of the wearer and secured to the upper part of themounting hand, a soft and absorbent sweat pad overlying the in sidesurface of the mounting band and continuous therewith, the lower edgezone of the pad being folded over the lower edge of the mounting band tooverlie a narrow zone on the lower outside surface thereof, and meanssecuring only the folded over portion of the pad to said narrow zone onthe outside surface of the band.

2. A safety hat suspension harness structure in accordance with claim 1in which means including aligned slots in the band are provided forsecuring the ends of the mounting band together in a selected head size.

3. A safety hat suspension harness structure in accordance with claim 1in which a line of stitching through the lower narrow zone of themounting band and only the folded over portion of the sweat pad securesthe pad to the band.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,074,627 Strauss Mar. 23, 1937 2,177,145 Lewis Oct. 24, 1939 2,477,240Elishewitz July 26, 1949 2,536,467 Ruggiero Jan. 2, 1951 2,585,937Johnson et a1. Feb. 19, 1952 2,616,090 Xeros Nov. 4, 1952 2,628,361Heyck Feb. 17, 1953 2,698,434 Davia Jan. 4, 1955 2,741,768 Ruggiero Apr.17, 1956 2,763,863 Bowers Sept. 25, 1956 2,822,546 Barker Feb. 11, 19582,832,077 McGinnis Apr. 29, 1958 2,855,605 Aileo Oct. 14, 1958

